At the Microsoft Redmond campus, five staffers from different teams got together for a chat. They talked about what it's like to work at Microsoft and dug in on subjects like career development, innovation and work/life balance. Each brought their own perspective, experience and sense of humor to show what it's really like on the inside.
Meet the Panel
The Gamer. Abby loves video games, running and her Smartphone. She's a Program Manager in ACES Game Studio, one of the Microsoft game development teams. She started at Microsoft as an intern and joined the company in 2003 to work as a Test Engineer—and then Test Lead—at Microso
ft Game Studios on titles like Dungeon Siege 2 and Forza Motorsport 2. She graduated from UCLA with a B.S. in Computer Science.
The Visionary. Blaise is a bit of a cynic, and somewhat surprised to end up at a large software company. He created Seadragon, a visualization technology used to give Phot
osynth its smooth digital rendering and zoom capabilities. Blaise is now an Architect at Microsoft Live Labs, a team that brings scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and the online community together to think about and build a better online world. Blaise graduated from Princeton University with a B
.A. in Physics and attended the Ph.D. program there in Applied Math.
The Entrepreneur. Dennis is a car nut who likes to "create little start-ups at Microsoft." He says, "If you have a good idea and you can convince people that it is a good idea, you can go and build that thing." Dennis is a Senior
Technical Lead in the Server and Tools division, on a new team building Internet-facing, developer-focused technologies. He came to Microsoft in 2002 as a Program Manager for the Windows Workflow Foundation and Microsoft Commerce Server teams. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a B.S. in
Computer Science.
The Music Enthusiast. Justin thinks Microsoft needs beds and a Laundromat at the office so he can be there when inspiration strikes. He's passionate about music and loves his crazy office atmosphere. He's a Software Development Engineer with Zune Services, the team developing th
e Microsoft digital music player and software. After an internship at Google, Justin joined MSN Music in 2005 and moved to Zune in 2006. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Mathematics; Honours in Computer Science.
The Social Networker. Outside work, Rob is a busy guy—
involved in politics, volunteering in the community, and preparing to get married—and he's constantly working to effect positive change. At work, he's a Program Manager with Windows Live, a social networking team with the mission to bring customers closer to the information and people that matter
most to them. After an internship in 2001, Rob joined the Microsoft Office Publisher team as a Program Manager. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and minors in Math and Computer Science.
The Media Guy. Were it not for the draw of seri
ous adventure, John would still be working for Microsoft as a Technical Evangelist. But when Yahoo! and John's friend, Richard Bangs, offered him the chance to be a field producer and photographer on projects in countries like Rwanda, Libya, Bosnia and Switzerland, he couldn't turn it down. Currentl
y a Media Production and Technology Consultant with MediaSherpa, LLC, John has worked in the media and entertainment technology field for nearly 20 years in a variety of roles, including stints as a Technical Evangelist for Windows eHome Division and Lead Product Manager for Microsoft TV Server.
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